


Reset

by Chimera Manticore (chimeral_colors)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 15:39:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5972406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimeral_colors/pseuds/Chimera%20Manticore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans, after losing his brother to a genocidal Frisk, finds out that he can go back and potentially save his brother- but how many times is he willing to go back before he realizes it's hopeless?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reset

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest I wrote the first chapter like probably 3 or 4 months ago and I'm just posting it now for some reason  
> Welp guess that gives me a reason to keep working on it then

"Papyrus!" Sans cried, sitting up in bed. He glanced around his room, panting. It was still dark out- what time was it? He checked his clock: three in the morning. Sans sighed shakily, wiping the tears away from his eyes, although more came. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on his knees. He closed his eyes and let the first shuddering sob escape him.

"Sans, are you oka- Oh no." Sans looked up to see Papyrus standing in the doorway, a concerned look on his face. Papyrus sat down on the bed next to his brother and took his hand.

"Was it another nightmare?" He asked quietly. Sans nodded, sniffing.

"Same one as always," he replied. "You get killed, and I go after the person who did it... but they kill me too. Then I wake up, crying and screaming and a whole wreck."

"Oh Sans..." Papyrus wrapped his arms around his brother and held him close. Sans hugged him back, sniffing.

"You don't have to worry about me like this, Pap," he said. "I'm fine, promise."

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Who d'ya think you're talking to?" Papyrus laughed, and Sans smiled faintly.

"Hey Sans..." Papyrus's smile faded. "I'm thinking about fighting the human tomorrow." Sans swallowed drily.

"Y-you what?" He said, his voice cracking.

"I'm not gonna actually fight them, though," Papyrus continued, seeing the distressed look on his brother's face. "I'm just gonna talk to them, okay? I know they're not.. the nicest of people, but I still think they've got a good soul somewhere in there. I wanna help them! I wanna help them be good!"

"Papyrus... I really want you to go out there and talk to them, but I don't really think it's the safest idea."

"What?! Who do you think you're talking to? I, the great Papyrus, am the safest person around!"

"You burnt the spaghetti last night and set half the kitchen on fire," Sans retorted.

"I'm safe around things that aren't kitchens," Papyrus replied, shrugging. Sans chuckled.

"Okay, okay, fine," he said. "You win. Go and fight the human to your heart's content." Papyrus jumped up in excitement and ran out of the room, yelling, "Yes! I gotta get ready!" Sans watched him run out and sighed, lying down on the bed again.

"It's just a dream," he told himself. "No way it can be possible."

***

"Boy, Papyrus is sure taking a while out there, isn't he..?" Sans said to himself, glancing out the window behind him. Snow was falling lightly, frost pricking at the edges of the window. Papyrus had left that morning to go find the human, and he wasn't back yet at noon. He was missing his favorite Mettaton show. Luckily, Sans was recording it for him. He shook his head, clearing any bad thoughts from his mind.

"No, no. I'm sure he's fine." He turned his attention back to the TV, but he had no clue what was going on, since he didn't have much interest in the show to begin with and wasn't really paying attention. If Papyrus were here, he'd loudly and excitedly be explaining everything to him. He really was taking a long time, wasn't he?

"...Maybe I should go check up on him," Sans said, sitting up. "No, no, no, no, he's fine. He's fine..." He looked out the window again, more nervously this time. "...Right?" He watched the snow fall uneasily for a few more seconds before standing and throwing his coat on.

"The things I do for you..." He muttered as he stormed out the door.

***

"Papyrus?" Sans called out as he wandered around blindly. The snow had begun to fall a lot harder, and it was hard to even see your hand in front of your face. The wind was howling; sending shivers through Sans and making it hard to even hear himself calling for his brother. So needless to say, the search wasn't going very well.

As time passed, bad thoughts began to fill Sans's head, each one getting worse. 'What if he got buried in the snow?' 'What if he's hurt and trying to find me too?' 'What if he's at home and I'm doing absolutely nothing out here?'

'...He can't be dead, right?'

"Papyrus! Buddy, you there?" He called again. Still no response. He considered turning back and heading home. Maybe Papyrus really was there? And besides, if he stayed out much longer, he'd probably get sick, and things would just go downhill from there.

"Alright, alright," he mumbled to himself. "A few more minutes, then I'll go home." He kicked up a pile of snow, and it all went flying, followed by a flash of color. Surprised, Sans grabbed it before it could fly away.

It was a tattered piece of fabric. It was soft, like part of a scarf, wet from the snow, and orange. Sans swallowed nervously. This wasn't what he thought it was. It couldn't be.

"P-Papyrus," he said, trying to call out for him again, but he was barely able to get his voice above a whisper. "Papyrus?" He repeated, louder this time. He gripped the scarf as tight as he could and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Papyrus?" He yelled out again, starting to panic. "P-Papyrus, this is a joke, isn't it? It's a sick joke! Y-you might as well come out now! I-it's not funny anymore!" He looked around, half expecting him to come out from behind a bush or something.

"Papyrus! I swear to god, bro! This better be a joke!" He was starting to panic now. "This isn't funny, damn it! Papyrus!

"This is a dream," he told himself. "It's all a dream. I'm gonna wake up any second now. It's just a nightmare... J-just..

"Papyrus, you better not be dead! Papyrus, if you're dead, I swear I'll kill you! Papyrus! P-Papyrus.. P... Please...!" He fell to the ground, fighting back tears.

"Please just let this be a dream," he whispered. He pulled his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "I could have saved him.. If I was just a few minutes earlier..."

"Who says you can't be?" A voice behind him asked. Sans shot up, taken off guard, and turned to face the source of the voice. But there was no one there..?

"Down here," it said, and Sans looked down to see a small flower somehow rooted in the middle of the snow.

"Howdy!" It said. "I'm Flowey. You must be Sans, right? Your brother has told me a lot about you!"

"F.. Flowey," Sans said in disbelief. "How are you.. alive?"

"All plants are alive, silly!"

“That’s not what- never mind. What were you talking about before? With going back and all that?”

“Oh, come on, Sans, don’t tell me you’ve never gone back before.”

“What is that?” he pressed. “What is ‘going back’?”

“Oh wait, you must not remember…” Flowey said to himself. “Have you really gotten so weak that you lost your…”

“My what?” Sans was starting to get irritated.

“Your determination,” Flowey explained. “The power to reset the timelines. You used to have it. Don’t you remember any other timelines? Any other instances where maybe something like this could have happened?”

“You mean like the nightmares I get?” He asked. “I do have a lot of dreams where Papyrus… y’know.” Flowey laughed.

“Wow, they really are busy, aren’t they..?” Flowey muttered. “Anyways, it looks like you’re still subconsciously aware of the timelines, but I don’t think you can reset anymore. I wonder what happened? You used to be so powerful, Sans. But, don’t worry! I can help you. If you really want to help your brother, all you have to do is press that button right over there!” Sans turned around and saw an orange glowing button that read “RESET” on it.

“Will I remember what happened?” He asked, his hand hovering over it cautiously.

“Of course you will,” Flowey replied. “All you have to do is reset, and you’ll be able to get there in time to save him!”

“...What do you want out of it?”

“I don’t ask for much. I just want to watch. You can allow that, right?”

“I… I guess so.”

“Then do we have a deal?” Sans sighed, closing his eyes.

“Why not?” He asked himself as he pressed down on the button.


End file.
